As I compile my favourite restaurants into a list, I realised I had not written about Embla. The extreme versatility of this Italian wine bar has meant I’ve been many times, but only in a large group have I actually sat through several courses. To me, Embla is the place that I’d love to be down the road, but I’d be there too much.
The dark interior makes mid-afternoon Embla look closed on a classic grey Melbourne day. This is one of my favourite times to visit unannounced, ready to sip a negroni, or have one of the expertly selected wines by the glass. The bar at the front of the long rectangular restaurant is the place for a drink.
On Derby night I break away from the group for an hour to grab a seat further inside the restaurant on the kitchen bar. In front of the wood-fired oven I have a great view of the chefs plating up, and risking limbs as they get dangerously close to the inside of the oven. A glass of Italian red, and a classic ragu on pappardelle. This is what I call celebrating the winner in the last!
Meeting a friend for lunch on the bar we both cannot go past the special for both deliciousness and price-point. Slow cooked lamb falls apart, juicy and enhanced by the other flavours in the dish. There’s been plenty of times Embla has been too busy to get a seat immediately, and the atmosphere is palpable as you enter. Every other time there is a seat or two, and you can indulge in a great glass of wine, grazing on some salumi and cheese.
For a group, this is a fabulous place for friends or close work colleagues. They pack you in, so you’d better be seated next to people you enjoy being with. I’ve been here with work colleagues who had become close friends. Feasting at Embla is good fun, but as I mentioned there are more comfortable ways to do a business lunch.
Embla is a wonderful enoteca. It serves comforting Italian classics alongside carefully selected wines, and is as versatile as it is brilliant. Don’t send out a search party. I’m on the bar at Embla.
I had booked Benchwarmer several weeks in advance to try before a show. We were only there for a short amount of time. The whole experience was confusing. When we arrived, we were immediately asked if we were there for “the event”. We looked blankly and said, “No, we’ve got a booking for two people”. We were led to a table out the back, right in front of the kitchen window.
Once we had moved from the rather uncomfortably placed table, we were told tonight’s menu was very restricted because of an event (“the event!”) In actual fact, the menu was completely different and ridiculously brief. We’d made a booking several weeks before but had not been notified of the change, which was incredibly disappointing. We did get an apology the next day in response to my slightly irate email, and it was sincere and well written.
With all of this threatening to derail our dinner before the show, we decided to have a look around West Melbourne to quickly find somewhere else. We came across Whitebark, a great looking, small venue with a long rectangular bar dotted with some bar stools, and a few smaller tables placed towards the back. We were greeted professionally by the friendly staff behind the bar, one of whom is the main person serving.
The only other person behind the bar is doing the cooking, with no verbal interaction with customers, though not in an unfriendly way. We were told that the premise of the bar is to serve Australian and New Zealand ingredients, play Australian New Zealand music, and serve Australian and New Zealand drinks. The menu is not necessarily what I would say is approachable, but if you give your trust to the chef, you’ll be rewarded with some great diversity of unusual flavors and contrasts.
For example, the emu dish earlier being made in front of us looked delicious, but is one that not everyone would be keen to try upon reading the menu. It is rubbed with bush tomato and ultimately torched with a flame briefly, keeping the emu extremely tender, but adding that beautiful, fiery flavour. Then there’s a “green pea brick”, which, again, we needed a description of prior to putting our trust in the chef to have a go. It is absolutely delicious. Split green peas have been cooked, then pressed into a brick, before being scattered with herbs. Next, we tried the barra skewers. Deboned and diced Barramundi is combined with other ingredients, and turned into a fish cake like texture, before being skewered and grilled again. Another great dish, but it did leave a lasting impression on us, acting as a date-night warning!
As we went to the Ball Park Music concert (an Australian band), we could still taste the barra, but it was worth it. As a finale, we had some blue cheese, which is served with some roasted grapes, and some local jam. A touch earlier, we tried the tart covered with local bush tomatoes that have been preserved. There’s some novelty shown, but the chef has a knack for beautiful combinations of flavours.
On the drinks front, the wines by the glass list has some delicious options. My Roussanne blend with some Grenache Blanc (by Riley Harrison) was so good I went back for a second glass when I would normally try something else. Catherine had a Chardonnay (by Small Wonder in the Tamar Valley) that was equally well chosen. I went on to try the orange Viognier (by Honky Chateau), that was also superb. I must admit I can’t remember trying wines from any of these producers previously.
We like places like Whitebark. They’re growing custom through excellence in what they provide, as opposed to being a large enough venue that word of mouth will necessarily spread like wildfire. Tonight, there were a number of places available on the bar, but it feels quite full, and people are enjoying a few drinks and a few nice dishes from the chef. There’s a good atmosphere and vibe.
I find that the service, whilst there’s only one main server, is enough. An extremely capable individual, there’s almost not a time where we need to look up to gain attention amongst twenty or so other diners. It’s a wonderful wine bar that you’d love to have down the street. We had come across town for Benchwarmer. And whilst we understand the food on a normal night is supposed to be excellent there, there is no way we would cross town to return again. Serving from the heart, we would definitely cross town to return to Whitebark.
Whitebark https://whitebarkwine.bar 313 Victoria Street, West Melbourne Mon; Wed-Fri 4pm-11pm Sat-Sun 12pm-11pm drink@whitebarkwine.bar 0493 028 334
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